Two major sources of traffic for web sites can be web content and web forums. Web content can include textual, visual, and/or aural content or artifacts contained on a web page within a web site. Examples of web content can include articles, blogs, videos, images, and sound files. In many conventional web sites, users may post comments on web content posted on the site. These comments can be textual messages, generally relating to the web content, and in some cases can be appended to the web content (e.g., on the bottom of the web page containing the web content, or on a separate page that is linked to from the web page with the web content).
Web forums can be web applications used for holding discussions and posting user-generated content. In some web sites, web forums can account for more than 50% of the total site traffic. The user-generated content (“posts”) can be in the form of textual messages, videos, sound files, or web links, for example. Posts can be topically grouped into topic threads (“threads”), which in turn can be organized into a hierarchy (e.g., based upon the time the message is posted, or based upon subtopics). Threads can be used, for example, to address questions users have about the website or technical difficulties, and/or to discuss web content and related topics.
In conventional web forums, there generally is no methodology behind the creation of threads. Threads can be created by either a moderator or a member of the forum, and can relate to any topic the creator chooses. While this can result in a wide variety of threads, forum “clutter,” where thread relating to topics of low community interest are comingled and outnumber threads containing topics of high community interest, can be a problem. Forum clutter can lead to inadequate community response to questions or problems, failure to resolve these issues, and reduced visibility and/or participation in threads. Because useful forum content can be crucial to forum participation, forum clutter can inhibit the effectiveness of a web forum.
Another problem resulting from the absence of a methodology for creating threads is that topics of high community interest can be overlooked altogether, due to user and/or moderator oversight or apathy. This can reduce the amount of useful forum content, and can thereby reduce forum participation.